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FACULTY OF EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND SPECIAL EDUCATION

WORKPLACE LEARNING: HOW IT IS EXPERIENCED BY INTERNATIONAL EMPLOYEES IN A SWEDISH CONTEXT

Sofije Shengjergji

Master’s thesis:

Programme/course:

Level:

Term/year:

Supervisor:

Examiner:

30 credits

L2EUR (IMER) PDA184 Second cycle

Autumn 2019 Adrianna Nizinska Susanne Garvis

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Abstract

Master’s thesis:

Programme/

Course: Level:

Term/year:

Supervisor:

Examiner:

Keywords:

30 credits

L2EUR (IMER) PDA184 Second cycle

Autumn 2019 Adrianna Nizinska

Susanne Garvis Workplace learning, international employees, Swedish workplace culture, narrative approach

Aim:

The purpose of this study is to explore the workplace learning that international employees experienced in Sweden (Gothenburg). The personal narratives of international employees aim to first understand what the role of international identity in workplace learning is. Second to identify which were the meaningful strategies or factors that empowered the international employees and support the workplace learning process.

Theory:

The theoretical frameworks that are used in this study are learning from a socio- cultural perspective, the holistic model for learning in working life from Illeris (2004) as an approach that relates to socio-cultural theory and Dewey’s theory of experience.

Method:

A narrative study is conducted to collect the empirical data, based on semi- structured interviews with international employees who live and work in Gothenburg

.

Results:

In this research, it was found that international identity had a key role in the

process of workplace learning. There were cases where international identity

created some obstacles in the engagement to the workplace but on the other

hand, it contributed to the bidirectional relationship that was established

between the presence of international employees and the Swedish workplace

culture. Secondly, it is indicated that the learning process in the working

environment, was mostly informal, authentic and was occurred through

participation in work practices. The meaningful strategies or factors for

workplace learning were mentoring, asking questions, testing different ideas and

the significance of a supportive working environment. The third emerged

category of findings showed that young international employees value

workplace learning as one of the important reasons that keep them in the same

job and prevent them withdraw and search for a new job option

.

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Acknowledgement

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all participants, as their unique

personalities and their willingness to share their experiences were the core of this research.

Those 8 interviews gave me the chance to acquire a deeper understanding of their working life and connect with them.

I would also like to thank my supervisor Adrianna Nizinska for her continuous support, feedback and guidance in carrying out this study.

Last but not least, I would like to thank my beloved family and friends who encouraged me all

these months and helped me be positive when I was struggling with writing.

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Table of contents

Introduction……….………1

Chapter 1: Theoretical Framework……….…….4

Chapter 2: Literature review……….…….11

Chapter 3: Methodology……….………18

Chapter 4: Data analysis……….…………25

Chapter 5: Findings……….37

Chapter 6: Discussion……….………40

Chapter 7: Conclusion………44

References ... 46

Appendix 1: Questions of the interview……….53

Appendix 2: Interview Consent Form ………...………54

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Introduction

Even though, the use of the learning concept traditionally is linked to formal education (schools and universities), since the beginning of the 1990s learning as a concept has expanded in the context of work. Nowadays workplace learning has gain popularity and it is a field that has drawn attention to wide-ranged and interdisciplinary research (Tynjälä, 2008).

The reasons behind the growing interest in workplace learning, are the rapid changes that have taken place to society and working life due to globalization, the development of information and communications technology and the increased production of knowledge in the economy.

In another words, as Lam (2006, p.214) argued ‘Globalization has become an umbrella term for what is taken place around the world in association with global integration of economies, rapid media, and information flow facilitated by new communication technologies, international migration of labor, the rise of transnational and pan-regional organizations, and resultant cultural transformations challenging traditional social structures’. Overall workplace learning, and continuous learning has become important and necessary because of the concerns (social and economic) about being attractive in the international labour market, being effective and competitive workforce, which maintains occupational competence and is adequately skilled and how workers can learn to handle continuous changes and new requirements in workplace (Billett, Harteis & Etelapelto, 2008; Nilsson & Ellström, 2012; Sennett, 2006;).

Another timely phenomenon that has affected workplaces is the immense movement of people around the globe. In today’s world, people move across country borders, around 250 billion people worldwide are living in countries other than their countries of origin (United Nations, 2015) and migration is becoming more intense than the previous years (OECD, 2016; United Nations, 2015). The reasons for this international mobility differ, some are economical and work-related like seasonal work, intra-company transferees, posted workers and other reasons refer to migration, asylum applications, refugee inflows, collective agreements between countries (e.g. the EU treaty) and international education/studies. As a consequence, of the international mobility is the great number of international employees in different societies.

Thus, the population of international employees can be characterized as salient to study from both an empirical and a theoretical perspective (Bozionelos at all, 2017).

What is more, it is useful to present some statistics from Sweden (Statistiska centralbyrån, SCB) which show that the number of foreign-born employees in the Swedish market is quite big.

Also, this information is interesting since the research is exploring the learning experience in

the workplace of eight international employees who live in Sweden (Gothenburg). According

to SCB in the third quarter of 2018, the labor force was 5 183 000 persons aged 15-74. More

precisely, the 1/5 of the employed population was foreign-born persons (1 033 000) and 4 150

000 Swedish born persons. More precisely, the participants of this research are international

employees in Gothenburg region. Gothenburg was chosen because it is Sweden's second-

biggest city, it has always been international being the Scandinavian centre for global trade

since the 1700s. Also, many companies in the region have seen success on global markets and

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have expanded as a result (Volvo Cars, Volvo Trucks, Chalmers University of Technology, Ericsson AB, SKF, Stena Metal International AB ext.). More than 210,000 foreign-born people were living in Gothenburg in 2018, according to agency Statistics Sweden (Statistiska centralbyrån, SCB), including 91,000 foreign nationals who did not have Swedish citizenship.

It is also worth mentioning the Swedish Work Environment Authority (Arbetsmiljö Verket) which has the mandate from the government and the Riksdag to see that the work environment fulfills the demand in the Work Environment Act that everyone should have a good and developing work environment. So, in the Swedish context developing and maintaining a good workplace for the employees from a holistic perspective is of great value. Thus, this study will try to explore a key issue for the workplace, which is learning and how it is experienced from the perspective of international employees.

Having Hammersley’s (2004) words as a point of departure, ‘research should be aimed at producing knowledge that contributes to the problem-solving capacities of some group of people’ (p. 244), investigating how all these international employees are experiencing the learning process in their new workplaces would be significant, since continuous learning is crucial for organizations to remain competitive in international markets and for individuals operating in the learning society (Tynjälä, 2008).

Thus, this research aims to investigate the experiences of workplace learning which international employees had in the different working environments in Sweden (Gothenburg). Certainly, a great amount of research has occurred in the field of workplace learning (e.g., Ashton, 2004; Billett, 2004; Fuller, Hodkinson, Hodkinson, & Unwin, 2005;

Ribeiro, 2019; Toiviainen, 2015; Tynjälä, 2008) but the aspect of international employees who join new working environments and their learning experiences is still neglected. Moreover, because international mobility is a timely phenomenon and a lot of workplaces hire international employees the value that this research will add to the existing literature, will be first a deeper understanding of what worked in the process of workplace learning for the international employees. Second, this study will add to the production of knowledge about what factors can improve and influence workplace learning in order to benefit employees from diverse background and the goals of organizations/businesses.

The research questions are :

1. What is the role of employee’s international identity, in their learning experience and engagement in the workplace?

2. Which strategies or factors are meaningful for the learning process of international workers?

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The theoretical frameworks which are used to support, analyze and make sense of the empirical data are learning from a sociocultural perspective which is the broader theory, Illeris’ (2004) approach of workplace learning and Dewey’s theory of experience. As for the methodology, a narrative approach with semi-structured interviews is chosen to explore in-depth the workplace learning of the international employees by getting thick descriptions of their experiences.

The overall structure of the thesis is the following: chapter one provides a summary of the

theoretical framework which the study is based on and explains other key concepts (like

experience, Swedish workplace culture, and identity) which are used. Chapter two is a review

of the existing literature about workplace learning and presents a variety of studies, their

findings, arguments, and conclusions. This chapter aims to acquire a more holistic and informed

view about what is written in academia about the field of workplace learning, how it is

conceptualized, what factors affect workplace learning and what concepts-strategies can be

identified even in different workplaces. Chapter three presents the methodology of the study

which includes justifications about the choice of the narrative approach, the role of the

researcher, explanations about the use of semi-structured interviews, purposive sampling,

ethical considerations, and trustworthiness. Chapter four consists of the data analysis where

there is a detailed presentation of participants and the empirical data are categorized based on

the research questions. In chapter five the findings of the study are presented in a descriptive

way that answers the research questions. Chapter six refers to the discussion were the results

of the study are critically discussed and examined concerning the theoretical framework and

some existing arguments in the literature. Finally, chapter seven consists of the conclusion

and limitations of the research and also suggestions for future research are mentioned.

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Chapter 1: Theoretical Framework

In the last two decades, an increase in theories about workplace learning has taken place. A variety of theories have contributed to the evaluating process, which is affected by the work in cognitive and organizational psychology, social anthropology, sociology, and management theory. The theoretical framework, which will help in understanding, making sense and evaluating the data and the progress of this research, is rooted in the sociocultural theory.

Sociocultural theory supports that society has a salient contribution to an individual’s development and learning. The theory was developed by the work of psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who believed that community, cultural context and social interactions should be carefully examined since they have a fundamental role in the cognitive development of children (Vygotsky, 1978). This approach views learning as a social process which occurs from interactions with more knowledgeable others. In other words, a dialogue with skillful people (like teachers, parents, peers) is cooperative and collaborative. Also, it is suggested that human development and learning across the world have unique differences because of the variations in cultures (beliefs, values, realities), so they are determined socio-culturally.

Vygotsky wrote ‘Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals’ (Vygotsky, 1978, p.57). It is stated that social learning comes before cognitive development.

For Newman, Griffin, and Cole (1989) Vygotsky’s greatest contribution was not only the connection between the external and internal but the emphasis on the dialectic between the inter- and intra-psychological. The traditional view about learning belongs to the field of cognitive psychology, where learning is considered as an inner psychological process of acquiring knowledge, skills, opinions, and attitudes within the individual. So, Vygotsky (1978) highlighted the concept of interaction between intermental and intramental processes.

Intermental refers to processes where abilities have occurred in relationship with the social suggestions and intramental refers to processes where abilities exist or develop within the individual (an inner psychological plane). This concept is used as a point of departure in the theoretical framework of the current research which means that ‘Human learning always involves both elements at the same time: through the social interaction between the individual and his or her environment, the individual receives many influences or impulses which he or she may absorb through inner psychological interpretation and acquisition processes’ (Illeris, 2004, p. 4).

So, even though Vygotsky’s work refers to children’s development and learning, in this study

his approach is applied to adults’ learning in the workplace, because it is viewed as the

foundation of understanding learning and the role of social interactions and cultural contexts in

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this process. Thus, learning is perceived from a sociocultural perspective and it is enriched with Illeris’ (2004) specific workplace learning concept.

Approaches which are placing workplace learning within the framework of socio-cultural theory, support certain assumptions and perspectives about the learning process and reject previous claims of theories influenced by psychology. Firstly, the focus of analysis is not only the individual learner but also the social learning, since all learning is social in some significant sense, with examples of both individual and group or community learning (Malloch et al.,2011).

Lave and Wenger (1991) also argued that the ‘proper unit of analysis of skilled human activity is a community of practice rather than an isolated individual’ (ibid., p. 147). Secondly, the primacy of learning as a product is rejected because learning is viewed as an ongoing process of participation, where learners develop by actively engaging in suitable activities (Malloch et al.,2011). Thirdly, the independence of learning from context is rejected, because contextuality shapes workplace learning (Malloch et al.,2011). According to Malloch et al. (2011), three more perspectives about learning can be included when talking about socio-culturally theory:

• A recognition that workplace learning, and performance are embodied phenomena. (Thus, they reject mind-body dualism and related dichotomies).

• A recognition that workplace learning, and performance seamlessly integrate a range of human attributes that is much wider than just rationality. So, context becomes the causal background of the learning.

• A tendency to problematize the concept of learning and to seek to re-theorize it. As such they pose a challenge to mainstream understandings of learning. (Malloch et al.,2011, p.9)

Certainly, in this research, the assumptions and perspectives which socio-cultural theory has about learning are supported because international employees’ workplace learning will be explored in relation to the context and social interactions. Also, the role of an individual’s participation and engagement in the working environment will be examined, with the intention of understanding their contribution to the ongoing process of workplace learning.

Moving on, before we explain the holistic model for learning in working life which was created by Illeris (2004) and is the key theory of this study, we will present a small introduction about his previous work which is the foundation of the holistic model. For Illeris (2009) learning indicates ‘the integration of two very different processes, namely an external interaction process between the learner and his or her social, cultural or material environment, and an internal psychological process of elaboration and acquisition’ (p.8). He constructed a model (figure 1,2) that shows the three dimensions (angles) of learning, the environment, the content and the incentive (the last two are equal psychological functions of the individual). This model (figure 1,2) shows the external interaction process between the individual (learner) and the environment and the psychological acquisition process that is an internal process of the learner.

So, according to Illeris (2009) the individual (learner) with the internal process of interaction

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that takes place between his/her content (the cognitive) and incentive (the emotional) is a key factor for learning.

Figure 1. The fundamental processes of learning Figure 2. Three dimensions of learning and competence development

The holistic model for learning in working life was based on the above figures and at the individual level it is emphasizes the identity of individual. Identity also refers to psychological aspects since is a part of the individual level where the interaction of the cognitive and the emotional exists.

Figure 1. A model for learning in working life (Illeris, 2004)

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According to Illeris (2004), the technical-organizational learning environment refers to technological conditions that affect the learning process like division of labor and work content, autonomy, and application of qualifications. The social-cultural learning environment refers to social and cultural factors that are salient for learning opportunities like communities of work, cultural and political communities. Learning content refers to knowledge, understanding, skills and learning dynamic refers to motivation, emotion, volition.

In this holistic model are presented the basic elements and relationships of workplace learning and their mutual connections (Illeris 2004). There are two triangular which are connected, one represents the social and environmental level and the second the individual level. The dialectical interaction between the individual and the social level is shown with the use of the horizontal double arrow. The uppermost vertical double arrow and the one at the bottom refer to the existing interactions between the content side (cognition) and the dynamic side (emotion) of individual, and the interaction between the technical-organizational and socialcultural sides of the working life learning environment, respectively (Illeris 2004).

Illeris (2004), emphasized the dialectical whole between the subjective and the objective, the interaction of the connected individual with the social level of learning in working life. The objective environment is influenced and marked by employees’ identities, perceptions and actions but also the personal identities are formed by the objective environment which means the conditions that working life has for learning and the community’s practices. So, it is suggested that the most important learning takes part in the central overlap between working practice and working identity. However, the author claims that peripheral learning can also occur which is not related so much to work in nature and is general. For instance, an employee can acquire technical-practical skills and understandings which are not specifically connected with the work practice and working identities.

Finally, it can be understood that Illeris’s model for learning in working life has its roots in socio-cultural theory, as it indicates the value of interaction between the social (working environment) and the individual (identity) level during the process of workplace learning.

Experience

Since the concept of experience plays an important role in this research is relevant and

necessary to briefly present the work of one of the most recognized and influential educational

theorists of the 20

th

century, John Dewey who wrote about educational experiences. Dewey’s

(1938) work relates to this study not only because he values experiences but because he

highlights the interaction of internal and external conditions ‘The conceptions of situation and

interaction are inseparable from each other. An experience is always what it is because of

transaction taking

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place between an individual and what, at the time, constitutes his environment… The environment, in other words, is whatever conditions interact with personal needs, desires, purposes, and capacities to create the experience which is had’ (p. 43-44). So, Dewey (1938) argued for the importance of empirical and experimental philosophy when he talked about the new philosophy of education. He insisted on knowing the meaning of empiricism by understanding what experience is and which experiences are educative.

‘The belief that all genuine education comes about through experience does not mean that all experiences are genuinely or equally educative. Experience and education cannot be directly equated with each other. For some experiences are mis-educative. Any experience is mis- educative that has the effect of arresting or distorting the growth of further experience.

Experience may be such as to engender callousness; it may produce lack of sensitivity and responsiveness. Then the possibilities of having a richer experience in the future are restricted’

(1938, p. 25).

According to Dewey, the quality of experience must have two aspects, agreeableness and influence on later experiences. Both aspects, are necessary for an experience to be educative, so when an experience has only one aspect, it is not educative. For instance, experience could be agreeable or pleasurable in itself and not have a positive effect on future experiences (Dewey 1938, p. 27).

Besides, the author mentioned two criteria of his theory of experience that can discriminate between experiences that are educative and those that are not: a) principle of continuity, b) principle of interaction. The principle of continuity means that in every experience there is a kind of continuity since an experience that occurred built on the previous one and will affect the quality of the next experiences. It is important though, the quality of experiences and to be directed to the aim of growth and develop. The principle of interaction means that the interaction of objective and internal aspects of experience form a situation (Dewey, 1938, p.

42). The two principles interact and unite to form the "longitudinal and lateral aspects of experience" (Dewey, 1938, p. 44). “As an individual passes from one situation to another, his world, his environment, expands or contracts. He does not find himself living in another world but in a different part or aspect of one and the same world. What he has learned in the way of knowledge and skill in one situation becomes an instrument of understanding and dealing effectively with the situations which follow. The process goes on as long as life and learning continue” (Dewey, 1938, p. 44).

Although Dewey’s approach supports that learning can arise from educative experiences, nothing is mentioned about the negative experiences which might also be educative and contribute to the individual’s learning process. Thus, in this research, it will be considered and discussed later, the issue of learning from negative experiences/situations relating to the empirical data from the interviews.

In conclusion, Dewey’s theory of experience is relevant to this study because here it is

investigated the learning experiences that different international workers had in their current

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workplace. Thus, it will be probed if the criteria of his theory of experience could also be applied to the findings of this research and might be of help in the interpretation process.

Identity

Another keyword or a concept which belongs to the theoretical framework of this thesis and is key element of Illeris’ (2004) holistic model of learning in working life is identity. Identity refers to the question ‘who am I’ and it is a concept that has been approached from a psychological, sociological and anthropological point of view. The different formations about identity were mostly influenced by the work of the developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst Erik Erikson. Even though his work highlighted eight interrelated stages of psychosocial development, the identity stage is the most popular. Erikson (1980) pointed out the psychological, personal and social dimensions of identity and three interrelated aspects of it: a) ego identity which describes a sense of self that is learned and is ‘developing into a defined ego within a social reality’ (p. 22), b) personal identity which is the behaviors and characteristics (idiosyncrasies) of an individual that distinguishes him/her from the others, c) group identity which means the different social roles that an individual might have within a community.

Weinreich and Saunderson (2005) argued that ‘a person's identity is defined as the totality of one's self-construal, in which how one construes oneself in the present expresses the continuity between how one construes oneself as one was in the past and how one construes oneself as one aspires to be in the future’ (p.80) and that ‘one's ethnic identity is defined as that part of the totality of one's self-construal made up of those dimensions that express the continuity between one's construal of past ancestry and one's future aspirations in relation to ethnicity’ (p.80).

According to Illeris (2004) ‘identity is always an individual, biographical identity: an experience of a coherent individuality and a coherent life course, and at the same time a social, societal identity: an experience of a certain position in the social community’ (p.436). Thus, a sociological approach can be presented ‘identity is not the exclusive property of the individual but rather is something that is realized strategically and circumstantially’ (Weigert et al, 1986, p. 23) from an individual’s interactions with others. So, although identity is perceived as a subjective construction of individuals, it mostly relates to external circumstances that happen during everyday interactions, to social structures and cultural institutions (Côté, J. E.,1996).

Also, a recent approach sees the formulation of identity in modern society as involving a ‘life- long reflexive project of self’ (Giddens, 1991, p.32-33) because of the constant social changes.

For Gecas and Burke (1995) ‘identity refers to who or what one is to the various meanings

attached to oneself by self and others. In sociology, the concept of identity refers both to self-

characterizations individuals make in terms of the structural features of group memberships,

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such as various social roles, memberships, and categories…and to the various character traits an individual displays and others attribute to an actor on the basis of his/her conduct’ (p.12).

While discussing the concept of identity and because this research is relevant to the workplace, it is meaningful to mention the concept of professional identity too. According to Paterson et al. (2002), professional identity is ‘the sense of being a professional’ (p.6) and ‘internalized expectations and behaviors that arise from a role or distinct network of relationships’ (Stryker and Burke 2000, 286). Nadelson et al. (2015) added that ‘the extent to which an individual has internalized the elements of a profession reflects the level to which she/he has developed her/his professional identity’ (5).

What is more, another term that appears in this study is international identity and we can adapt the words from Coe & Neumann (2011) to offer a conception of that term ‘International identity, then, emphasizes that most nations and their citizens learn something about who they are and where they belong by positioning themselves in relation to other nations and its citizens’

(p.143). Likewise, in this research international employees learned something about who they were from the communicative process/interaction with individuals from a different nation in their workplace. Coe & Neumann (2011) also present four features of international identity distinct, relational, contextual, and stratified. Distinct means that international identity can operate distinctly from national identity. However, in this study the rest 3 feature relate more to the term international identity as it is used. International identity is relational since relations between nations play a key role, ‘ the construction of international identity in discourse depends on a speaker making explicit reference to a foreign entity’ (p.144). It is contextual as ‘the construction of identity occurs in the context of existing international circumstances’ (p.144) and stratified as ‘the construction of international identity depends on a speaker referencing a foreign entity. Given that foreign entities are often large and multifaceted, the speaker might discuss just one part of the entity’ (p.144).

To sum up, this study will be explored how the concept of identity which is described above

(especially international identity), can be a salient part of the learning that takes place in

working life. How being an international employee and carrying all these different dimensions

of identity (psychological, personal and social/cultural) can impact the way you engage and

participate in the working environment and the learning process.

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Chapter 2: Literature review

Workplaces have been an important learning environment, since ancient times. Workers learn through work practice the occupational skills which were required. In ancient Babylon and Greece, the impressive and colossal cathedrals, artifacts, structures and buildings, in general, were the product of learning through practice-based experiences. Hundreds of generations of workers developed the skills that were needed in construction solely in workplaces, by apprenticeship experiences and by engaging in work activities relevant to the construction of these buildings (Gimpel, 1961 seen at Billett, S. at all 2008).

Plato also refers that the learning process of becoming artisans and artists is through practice and imitation, association, beginning with play inside the family of artisans and artists and in the context of practice. Lodge (Lodge, 1947 seen at Billett, S. et al. 2008) reports … at first, the imitation would be playful and childish, carried out with such toy tools as a child could handle.

Later, it would become more deliberately purposive. Practice produced technical proficiency in detail and the growing boy would act first as his father’s ‘helper’, then as his associate, and would eventually himself become the head of the family, and the center from which further training in the family craft would radiate (p.17).

1. How workplace learning is conceptualized and discussed?

Workplace learning has been approached, theorized and investigated by different research disciplines like adult education, higher education, management studies, innovation studies, cultural anthropology, vocational education, organizational theory, industrial economics. Hicks et al. 2007 gave an authentic definition about workplace learning ‘is a process whereby people, as a function of completing their organizational tasks and roles, acquire knowledge, skills, and attitudes that enhance individual and organizational performance’ (p.64). However, this approach is oriented to the goal of performance. According to Handley et al. (2006), workplace learning “is not simply about developing one’s knowledge and practice, it also involves the process of understanding who we are and in which communities of practice we belong and are accepted” (p. 644). So, this research will approach the concept of workplace learning from an educational- learning perspective, based on sociocultural theory and from employees’ point of view.

Lave and Wenger (1991) offer a different conceptualization of learning from the traditional

learning theories which were influenced by the organizational and cognitive psychology theory

and they viewed learning as a cognitive process (just inside the mind). Lave and Wenger’s

Situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation (1991) provides a comprehensive theory

of learning as a social practice and their work was a starting point for changing the way

academics thought about the field of workplace learning. They support that learning occurs in

a framework of participation in a social world with a network of relations. The workplace is

seen as a community of practice and the legitimate peripheral participation as a learning

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process, which is social, that newcomers experience to become full members of the community of practice. Their research was ethnographic about craft apprenticeship and based on five case studies (5 communities of practice) Vai and Gola tailors, Yucatec midwives, meat cutters, nondrinking alcoholics (AA) and naval quartermasters.

Fuller, Hodkinson, Hodkinson, & Unwin, (2005) study critiques and highlights the limitations and strengths of Lave and Wenger’s work. The weaknesses that the authors indicate are strong as they are based on qualitative empirical data, which were drawn from wide research projects in different and complex working environments and a variety of methods like interviews, observations, learning logs and company documentation were included. Thus, issues of conflict, power, and inequality are not investigated enough in Lave and Wenger's theory. Also, the prior learning and how learner identities are constructed because of social relationships and the existing processes outside of a particular community of practice is neglected. Finally, two more issues are overlooked according to Fuller et al (2005), the role of 'teaching', or the role of formal education inside the workplace and how employees with full participation continue learning.

Workplaces are conceptualized and discussed as "informal", "unstructured" learning environments and they are often seen as inferior in comparison to the learning process which takes place in the educational institutions (Collins et al, 1989; Ericsson and Lehmann, 1996;

Evans, 1993; Prawat, 1993). However, Van der Heijden et al. (2009), indicated that a combination of formal and informal learning opportunities should be used it people’s development. What is more, Billett (2002) in his article "Critiquing workplace learning discourses: Participation and continuity at work" argues that describing workplace as informal is incorrect, negative and unhelpful as it doesn't aid in understanding its characteristics, qualities and to have a good bases to conceptualize and discuss workplace learning experiences.

Unlike other academics who justify why "informal learning" is more important, effective and thus ‘superior’ from the formal classroom-based learning (Colley et al, 2002), Billett (2002) claims that are highly structure environments for learning and that the practices and goals of workplace define the activities and tasks which individuals will engage. Moreover, the values and norms of the workplace structure the learning process through a pathway of activities. Hicks et al. (2007) in a study of accountants, found that informal learning was utilized more than formal learning.

2. What are the factors that affect workplace learning?

Billett (2004) highlights two concepts for a better understanding of the workplace as learning

environments, workplace affordance and the individual agency/engagement which influenced

the learning process. Workplace affordance stands for the opportunities that the workplace

provides to employees for participating and engaging in activities-tasks and the support that is

available to them. This readiness of the workplace, which includes the tools, norms, procedures,

values, goals and work practices, is salient for the learning process that employees will

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experience. On the other hand, individual agency/engagement stands for the choice that individuals make to engage with the workplace activities that are afforded to them. So, workplace learning involves a relational interdependence between an individual’s participation/engagement and workplace affordance (social practices) (Billett, 2006a).

It is also clear that individual’s personal agency plays a key role in the process of learning because the individual based on his/her intentions, subjectivities and capacities, which arise from their socially- derived life histories or ontogeneses (Billett, Smith and Barker, 2005), will choose how she/he will participate to workplace learning opportunities.

In addition to this, Hökkä, Rasku-Puttonen, & Eteläpelto, (2008) qualitative research about teacher educators’ workplace learning, explored the interdependence between the social context of a teacher education department in Finland and individual agency of the educators. Their findings showed that there was no boundary-crossing between different communities of practice in the department and the most important community for teachers was their subject matter group. Since the work culture provided autonomy to educators’ teaching and learning process, a more collaborative model between different subject matter groups was hard to exist because ‘there is neither enough individual willingness nor enough social pressure to change the dominating culture’ (p.12). The research concludes that ‘individual learning at work does not necessarily promote organizational development if the social context does not afford enough opportunities for individuals to share the meanings with each other, to work together and to collaborate’ (p.13).

Continuing with the factors that can have an impact on workplace learning, Ashton (2004) base on his empirical findings supports that organizational structures influence and shape learning.

His case study is a large and multinational company in South-East Asia and, the interviews are conducted with staff from across all grades within the organization. More precisely, he argues that the organizational structures like the hierarchical structuring of relationships, the design of jobs, and movement of employees, organizational decisions about learning and its importance, and decisions about the system of rewards determine the access to learning opportunities and the support that is available for the learners. There was uneven access to knowledge and learning between senior staff and the clerical and more junior staff. Senior staff was encouraged to learn, their jobs were designed in a way to benefit the learning process which was facilitated within the organization. On the other hand, the clerical and more junior staff were given tasks which provided them fewer opportunities for knowledge and skills. Furthermore, attention is given to employee agency and the formal and informal interpersonal relations between staff which could influence the learning process.

It is also important to present different factors that could affect negatively the efficacy and the

value of workplace learning. Billett (1995) argued that not all learning that occurs in workplaces

is positive and desirable. Employees can learn inappropriate work practices or negative attitudes

if this is the culture of practice. Also, the reluctance of experts to share their knowledge, provide

guidance and support can inhibit the learning process. Another case is the absence of expertise,

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which may be needed to offer a modeling, coaching and guidance role. Barriers in accessing and engaging with authentic activities and instructional media which may have limitations as people ‘have to transfer the knowledge from the context of acquisition to their application in the workplace’ (Billett, 1995, p.7).

Different studies added more factors that could have a negative impact on workplace learning.

Some of them are resources/financial limitations, lack of time, a lot of requirements to be learned (Doyle et al. 2008), not enough meaningful rewards for learning, lack of access to training opportunities and learning resources, increased multi-tasking (Hicks et al. 2007), lack of access to computers (Lohman, 2005), the absence of management commitment to learning (Ellinger 2005), a culture that does not support learning and lack of understanding the role of HRD (Sambrook and Stewart 2000).

3. What kind of learning concept-strategies can be identified even if the workplaces are different?

Researchers have been interested in examining the strategies/factors/methods that can support an individual’s workplace learning. To beginning with, Eraut et al. (2001) broad qualitative inquiry about learning in business, engineering and healthcare enterprises reported that

‘learning from other people and the challenge of work itself proved to be the most important dimensions of learning for the people we interviewed. Although some reported significant learning from formal education and training, this was by no means universal, and often only of secondary importance’ (Eraut et al., 2001: 37). Collin, & Paloniemi (2008) with their inquiry from two different workplaces (a horticultural nursery and a design company) where they interview 19 workers, supported that experience sharing is an important informal way for many workers no matter the age, experience or position to learn in the working environment. Moving on, Lewis (2008) in his research where he used experimental procedures and 4 interviews from 4 professional truck drivers (from the same company), argued about the effectiveness of guided learning (coaching and mentoring) in the development of conceptual knowledge in road transport.

Moreover, two studies that examine health care workplaces shared the same opinion about interactions with other co-workers. First, Margit Saskia at all (2015) a study about the learning opportunities in rheumatology practice found ‘that relationships with professional peers, patients, and practitioners from other professions were perceived as important learning opportunities and enablers for learning at work. Peer discussions were perceived by most participants as an opportunity for learning and feedback on professional performance’ (p.12).

Olsen et al. (2018) a study that investigates whether the formal and informal learning patterns

of 9 female experienced nurses changed after a reform that altered their work, found that a

traditional learning pattern between the participants was the transfer of knowledge from

experienced nurses to novices. However, even when nurses created new learning patterns across

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organizational boundaries, informal relations based on trust were important for knowledge sharing.

Mavin and Roth (2015) and Cavanagh (2008) had something in common in their research. Both researchers pointed out the concept of learning by doing your job. More precisely, in Mavin and Roth (2015) case study from aviation, findings showed that shorter simulator sessions followed by extended self-directed debriefing were extremely effective for the pilots. In Cavanagh (2008) ethnographic study was indicated that female auxiliary workers mostly learned their job by doing it. Thus, participating to work practices tasks and engaging in authentic workplace situations are viewed as very supportive and developing strategies for the learning process.

Mornata and Cassar (2018) were interesting in finding the main learning strategies of newcomers and which interpersonal characteristics of insiders could support the newcomers’

proactive behaviours. Their findings show that newcomers perceived the existence of a formal induction training as crucial for their adjustment in the new working role. However, when there is a lack of this organizational support newcomers “newcomers regulate their proactive behaviours by seeking indirect guidance, and more precisely, by engaging in informal interactions with insiders likely to help them socialize” (p.10). What is more, psychological safety is a factor that newcomers, value for their learning process and thus, insider should have characteristics (such as being available, accommodating, accepting mistakes, happy to share information) which support newcomers’ perception of psychological safety.

Furthermore, Govaerts and Baert (2011) study aimed to explore if the creation of a typology of learning patterns from different organizations/communities of practice, is possible. The findings indicated that some basic learning patterns were distinguished a) an agora learning pattern, where predominant is the social working environment and key factors are ‘the mutual consultation and working out potential problems with colleagues’ (p.552), b) an Olympic learning pattern is about formal learning activities that the management controls and aim to

‘socialization and internal branding of the employees, according to the original and demanding mission of the founding fathers of the organization’ (p.550), c) a job performance learning pattern where the learning opportunities are determined by the job characteristics, d) a helpdesk learning pattern where ‘employees are held in a fairly tight work structure, and experience a high work rate’ (p.551), e) an entrepreneurial learning pattern where the main learning activities are the formal and this pattern is found in small enterprises with self-employed entrepreneurs, whose motivation and interest will determine the kind of learning activities that they will choose. However, this typology was just an instance and did not represent all possible patterns and variations existing.

Ribeiro (2019) with his narrative research approach among urban workers in São Paulo, Brazil

points out three workplace learning modes a) formal workplace learning mode, which was

offered by training and development organizational system, b) formal workplace learning

mode, which was offered by specialized educational institutions, c) informal and relational

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workplace learning mode. He continues with four patterns of working identity that participants constructed a) an organizational identity where they ‘preferred to use formal workplace learning narrative patterns offered by training and development organizational system’ (p.44), b) a professional and occupational identity where they needed continuous learning for their professional development and they seek for training outside of the working context, c) a networking identity constructed mostly from informal and relational modes of learning, d) transitory identity ‘as a pattern of contingency and transition, in general, had no learning models’ (p.44), e) hybrid identity where they used both formal and informal learning modes.

Finally, it is mentioning the movement of searching for stability ‘generated demand for formal learning modes constructed by formal workplace learning narrative patterns from the participants (organizational, professional and occupational identity narrative patterns)’ (p.45), and the movement of searching for flexibility ‘generated the demand for informal and relational learning modes constructed by informal and relational workplace learning narrative patterns from the participants (networking identity narrative patterns)’ (p.45).

Swedish workplace context

Since this research is based on narratives of international employees from different workplaces in Sweden (Gothenburg), it would be useful to present what is written about the characteristics of the Swedish workplace culture. Information from this part of the literature review will be used in the analysis of the research data as well as in discussion, to examine if those characteristics can be identified in the empirical data and if they have a salient role in the findings. To start with, the world economy has faced a lot of changes due to globalization.

However, the Swedish, industrialized nation has managed to have businesses that are successful and competitive in many global industries. A key role to this accomplishment has played the Swedish culture in the workplace which is characterized as meritocratic, autonomous and anti- hierarchical, biased for the team approach, reluctant to glorify star performers, non- confrontational and conflict-avoidant, action-oriented (Isaksson, 2008).

More precisely, according to Holmberg & Åkerblom (2012), the Swedish management style and leadership have as a central value egalitarianism and equality just like the Swedish economic model, which tries to balance socialism and capitalism to make a society where people’s differences are limited, and they have equal opportunities. Also, Swedish management culture is more collectively oriented rather than individualistic and it is suspicious with employees that seek star status and want to standouts (Holmberg & Åkerblom, 2012).

Managers’ work is to focus on the big-picture goals, give general suggestions, set directions,

and support (Isaksson, 2008). Employees’ teams usually handle the details and the execution

of the goals and the process of decision making is participative, something that was also

supported by Bialas (2009) “one of the most emphasized characteristics of the Swedish

management is high-level employee participation” (p. 108). Even if employees in the Swedish

workplace culture are members of teams and value cooperation, they still work autonomously

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with little supervision, in a non-confrontational or conflict-avoiding atmosphere. The structure

of most of the companies is flat and decentralized without strong hierarchies. Isaksson (2008)

explains the decentralization progress as “responsibility, authority and control systems are

extensively delegated” (p.18).

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Chapter 3: Methodology

This chapter will be presented the methodology of the study. A qualitative approach was used in order to examine in detail and in-depth how international employees experienced the learning process in their workplace, an issue that has not been explored yet. More precisely, a narrative study was conducted with semi-structured interviews based on open-ended questions, so there were no right or wrong answers.

Narrative research is the study of how human beings experience the world, and narrative researchers collect these stories and write narratives of experience (Gudmundsdottir, 2001). Or According to Polkinghorne (1988) narrative is “the primary scheme by which human existence is rendered meaningful” (p.1). This method and phenomenon were chosen as the most appropriate for the purpose of the research and as Connelly and Clandinin (1990) wrote “The main claim for the use of narrative in educational research is that humans are storytelling organisms who, individually and socially, lead storied lives. The study of narrative, therefore, is the study of the way humans experience the world. (p. 2)

Since this research aims to investigate the learning process which international employees had in their workplace, narrative as a research approach is the most suitable because humans construct meaning through their engagement and the dialogic interaction with the world and they produce narratives of their experiences to make sense of behaviors and life events. Also, this research places narratives within the framework of sociocultural theory, which supports that human learning and development takes place when individuals participate and interact with social activities. A mutual process between society and the individual, which negates the dualism between the human and his/her social world (the mind-world problem) (Prawat, 1996).

When telling their stories humans are not isolated or independent from their context, the interlinking between the individual and his/her social, cultural and institutional context is crucial. Thus, narratives are the method, which is used to capture and examine how individuals’

actions are related or shaped by the social and cultural context.

According to Ricoeur (1981) as an outcome of the dialogic collaboration process between the researcher and the participants, is one or more stories that are written down and become fixed in a text. Next, when the narrative turns into a text it becomes “autonomized”: it is no longer attached to the moment it occurred and has undertaken consequences of its own. Thus, the narrative is able to take up importance that goes beyond the existing situation and become relevant to other contexts. Eventually, the narrative which is fixed in a text is an “open work”

where the meaning is addressed to those who read and hear about it. By way of explanation,

when a narrative is seen as an open work, which is liberated from its origin, others who read or

hear about the report can a wide range of interpretations (Ricoeur, 1981).

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The role of the researcher

In social science research, the role of the researcher and his/her experience is important. Warnes is made about researcher “over-involvement” and “identification” of themselves with the respondents (May 2001). Dressel & Langreiter (2003) supported their objectivity in social science studies without carrying cultural and emotional meanings. A total detachment of researchers from respondents is unrealistic, though. Constructivists do not believe in the existence of objective reality (Guba & Lincoln 1994). The subjective interrelationship between the researcher and the respondents is admitted. In this case, being the researcher of the study is worthwhile to note some information about my background in Sweden, which can be relevant to the topic. During my studies in Sweden (2years), I have been also a part-time international employee (substitute pre-school teacher), so I have personally experienced and observed some workplaces. Also, in the past, I have been working in the same workplace as one of the participants (Stefan) and collaborated with him. My social interactions in Sweden are mostly with international employees, so I knew seven of the participants.

This fact was an advantage for the interview process since a good relationship based on trust and caring was already established between the researcher and the participants. Most of the participants felt familiar and comfortable talking to the researcher and sharing their workplace learning experiences. A collaborative, dialogic relationship with a sense of a nonjudgmental attitude was achieved (Fetterman, 1998).

Next, be aware that my role as a researcher in this study can be a key factor for the interpretation and analysis of the empirical data, lead me to the decision of reading articles which refer to the Swedish workplace culture before I conducted the interviews. The intention behind this action was my determination to acquire in advance a background knowledge and understanding of the Swedish workplace from academic sources, so I would be competent to identify or not, relative themes in my empirical data and examine if my participants confirm or not the Swedish workplace culture.

Besides this, as a researcher, I investigated the topic of this study by examining it through theory

and creating an interactive relationship between theory and empirical data. The sociocultural

perspective combined with the narratives of international workers allowed me to obtain further

understanding and insight of how individuals learn and develop. Therefore, the theory was

utilized in systematic ways, such as when the field was approached and when the reasons for

interpretation were given (Gudmundsdottir, 1997). In other words, the stories of this narrative

approach are told and interpreted within a theoretical framework (Gudmundsdottir, 2001).

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Semi-structured interviews

Interview is the method that is used to collect the empirical data for this study and to examine the learning experiences in the workplace that internationals had. McNamara (1999) stressed that interviews can get the story behind a participant’s experience, in-depth information around the topic can occur and with interviews, a further investigation of response is possible with follow-up questions. More precisely, with personal interviews, the researcher is able to explore attitudes, values, beliefs, and motives (Richardson et al. 1965, Smith 1975). Also, the evaluation of the validity of the respondent's answers is easier, since the researcher can observe non-verbal indicators, which are helpful when discussing sensitive issues (Gordon 1975). Bailey (1987) pointed out that during personal interviews the respondent cannot receive help from others while formulating a response.

Empirical data consist of 8 face to face semi-structured interviews which were audio-recorded and the duration of them was approximately between 40minutes to 1hour. Using semi- structured interviews means that the researcher does not conduct the research to test a specific hypothesis (David & Sutton 2004). Semi-structured interviews are non-standardized, which means that the researcher has some key themes or questions that he/she wants to cover (thematic interviews). However, emergent ideas that are introduced by the participants as a part of the discussion, are always followed and as a result, more freedom and flexibility are given than structured interviews or questionnaires (Rowe, 2009). According to Corbetta (2003):

The order in which the various topics are dealt with and the wording of the questions are left to the interviewer’s discretion. Within each topic, the interviewer is free to conduct the conversation as he thinks fit, to ask the questions he deems appropriate in the words he considers best, to give explanation and ask for clarification if the answer is not clear, to prompt the respondent to elucidate further if necessary, and to establish his own style of conversation.

(p. 270)

The questions for the semi-structured interviews were created based on the research questions and all were open-ended with the purpose of providing enough space to informants to share their personal background information, their learning experiences in the different workplaces and what perspectives and opinions were created after these experiences.

A pilot interview with one of the Greek participants was first conducted and the language of

the interview was Greek. The use of a pilot study can be as a “small scale version or trial run in

preparation for a major study” (Polit et al. 2001, p.467). Therefore, the purpose of the pilot

study is “to try out the research approach to identify potential problems that may affect the

quality and validity of the results” (Blessing & Chakrabarti 2009, p.114). The pilot interview

was included in the final group of interviews and assisted in structuring and adjusting the

questions of the interview, in a way that will add a natural flow in the conversation. After the

pilot interview questions were categorized/thematized in sections like a) background

experience (studies and work), c) current job, d) their learning process. This change improved

the order of questions, as eventually questions were built on each other and support participants

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to give more explanations and details about their experiences and thoughts. All participants received the questions before the day of the interview. They were not asked to prepare their answers, just to be familiar with the questions, as the intent behind this action was a future flow in their stories during the interview, which most of the time was accomplished.

Trustworthiness

In qualitative research, it is well known the emphasis that is given in the issue of ensuring specific criteria that can evaluate the quality of research. Smith (1990) wrote ‘the problem of criteria seems to me one of the most difficult and important problems facing social and educational research’ (p. 167). Garratt and Hodkinson (1998) noted that ‘(a)ny prespecification of universal criteria is in danger of foisting on research artificial categories of judgment, and a framework of a priori conditions that may be impossible or inappropriate to meet …’ (p. 533).

Nevertheless, as Elliott, Fischer, and Rennie (1999) concluded ‘some form of widely- recognized evaluative guidelines for qualitative research are necessary in order to win wider recognition and acceptability for qualitative approaches’ (p. 225).

Additionally, the aim of this thesis is to contribute to the development of knowledge about workplace learning from an international worker’s perspective and its findings to be accepted as quality and worth paying attention to and taking account of. Thus, is necessary for acquiring this acknowledgment for the research to establish the trustworthiness, which is an alternative term given from Lincoln and Guba (1985) to replace the terms validity, reliability, and generalizability. Trustworthiness is establishing when the criteria of credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability are met.

In this research, credibility is achieved by having a prolonged engagement with the participants and the Swedish workplace. According to Lincoln and Guba (1981, p. 4) ‘when an anthropologist has become so like the group he is studying that he ceases to consider himself a part of the profession-or ceases to consider either his cultural or professional subgroup as his dominant reference group-he is contributing to the research and begins a "performance- understanding" role (Kolaja, 1956, p. 161) within the studied group’. In this case, as it is mention above the researcher is also an international part-time employee, who before conducting the interviews studied about the Swedish workplace culture and personally knew seven of the eight participants. Therefore, the researcher was familiar and experienced some of the workplace (context) issues that are addressed from participants and a prior adequate trust and rapport were existing in the interaction between the researcher and participants.

Furthermore, a peer review which will take place during the defense of the thesis, will support

the credibility, because it will be an opportunity for exploring new aspects of the research which

might have been neglected and as Lincoln and Guba (1981, p. 308) indicated ‘the inquirer's

biases will probe, meanings will be explored, the basis for interpretations will be clarified’.

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The establishment of transferability is succeeded by providing for every assumption and judgment that is made supportive, thick descriptions (relevant and sufficient quotations) of what different informants said. Also, the use of purposeful sampling which is presented in detail, is another key factor for transferability because the informants were selected based on the different characteristics that they have (nationality, current workplace, gender, professions, and previous experience) in order to gain a wide variety of the international population, contexts, situations and circumstances. The issue of dependability is ensured by keeping records of all the processes of the inquiry (audio records of the interviews, transcripts of interviews and personal notes of the researcher) which are accessible for auditing processes.

Next, the audit trail of the research can strengthen confirmability. The chapter of data analysis and discussion play that role. The chapter of data analysis shows how the empirical data are structured, synthesized into categories according to the two research questions and how rational reasoning is being followed based on the authentic answers of participants. A prove that the findings portray informants’ responses and avoid potential bias of the researcher is the emerged issue that was not considered in the making of the research. Also, the chapter of discussion supports the current findings and interpretations with existing theory, to confirm that the outcome of the research can add value to the ongoing academic dialogue about the process of workplace learning of international employees.

To sum up, the trustworthiness of a narrative study is a salient methodological issue which lacks acceptance within the qualitative field, as it is supported in the article of Loh (2013, p.3).

Therefore, as it can be viewed above the current study acknowledging this issue, addresses rigorously the criteria which establish trustworthiness in order to ensure the quality of findings.

Participants-Sample

Purposive sampling (Bryman, 2012; Cohen et al., 2007) was used to produce more variation in order to have as wide a variety of international workers’ experiences as possible. Thus, the eight informants were selected for their different nationalities, gender, profession, and different workplace. The age of informants is between 25-32, so the sample refers to quite young international employees. It is also worth mentioning, that most of the participants come from countries of Southern Europe. Finally, a balance research relationship based on trust and good collaboration was established, as the researcher had a previous interaction and knew almost all the participants.

Saturation of data

Saturation has its origins in in grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss 1967) but has attained

general acceptance as a methodological element within qualitative research. Saturation is used

as a criterion for discontinuing data collection and/or analysis. Saturation of data is achieved in

References

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